When the police in collaboration with Postnord made an effort against the post office in Gothenburg, 1,358 consignments of narcotics were seized. The letters contained, among other things, amphetamine, cannabis, LSD, cocaine, drugs classified as narcotics and doping preparations.
The police have identified around 1,200 recipients who, instead of drugs, received letters from law enforcement stating that they are suspected of drug offences. The result is described as a “record seizure”.
Johan Ekström, police inspector for the detective section Gothenburg, participated during the operation. In Ifter fem, he tells us that recent finds of drug letters are only a fraction of what is found in a year.
– It’s actually a huge flow. As it appears, we have taken approximately between 50 and 100 shipments per day in Gothenburg alone with mail containing narcotics. It is a huge number that we and Postnord are working extremely hard to get rid of, he says.
Drugs on the way out
The police inspector explains that in this case it is not about narcotics on their way into Sweden, but about narcotics that are already here, in this case in the Gothenburg area, and that would be posted out of the country.
– But enormous amounts must come in from outside for this amount to be sold within the country, he says.
Johan Ekström now believes and hopes that many culprits will be brought to justice. The reaction of those who have ordered drugs home varies when the police knock, he says.
– Many people are surprised. Others confess immediately on the spot. We have many people left to visit.
Postcode: We are looking into that
Postnord examines a variety of factors to assess a shipment as suspicious or not, explains the company’s security manager Alexis Larsson.
– One thing that we have seen is very common is the use of fake stamps. If we discover fake stamps, it will automatically be reviewed, he says in Efter fem.
– Fragrance can be another. It could be a shipment that breaks. It can be a fake sender or a recipient who does not live at that address and of course there must be some kind of substance in the shipment, continues the security manager.